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I'm still trying to figure out how I would benefit from asking to join the Amex Oasis program other than paying off an old debt and regaining the history. It seems like I will be held prisoner by Amex for a year or so if my goal is to open another card. I will have to cancel the Oasis card (losing the history - right?) in order to get a better card.
Hummmm....
@BBYGRL wrote:I'm still trying to figure out how I would benefit from asking to join the Amex Oasis program other than paying off an old debt and regaining the history. It seems like I will be held prisoner by Amex for a year or so if my goal is to open another card. I will have to cancel the Oasis card (losing the history - right?) in order to get a better card.
Hummmm....
No, you will not loose history with AMEX. No matter which card you get (Optima or otherwise), AMEX always gives you the opening date of your first card you had with them.
I think you only benefit from the Oasis route if your charge-off is fairly recent, you are in a credit repair phase (still baddies on EX report) or you generally do not qualify for AMEX cards otherwise (income, score, thin file, etc).
If you aren't in that situation, I think the better choice is to pay the full chargeoff and apply for the Zync or Green in a few weeks.
@Anonymous wrote:
@BBYGRL wrote:I'm still trying to figure out how I would benefit from asking to join the Amex Oasis program other than paying off an old debt and regaining the history. It seems like I will be held prisoner by Amex for a year or so if my goal is to open another card. I will have to cancel the Oasis card (losing the history - right?) in order to get a better card.
Hummmm....
No, you will not loose history with AMEX. No matter which card you get (Optima or otherwise), AMEX always gives you the opening date of your first card you had with them.
I think you only benefit from the Oasis route if your charge-off is fairly recent, you are in a credit repair phase (still baddies on EX report) or you generally do not qualify for AMEX cards otherwise (income, score, thin file, etc).
If you aren't in that situation, I think the better choice is to pay the full chargeoff and apply for the Zync or Green in a few weeks.
Totally agree. At the time I did oasis, my credit was bunk and I knew the optima was the best I could do, without even having to know my score. Now my score is probably borderline, EX happens to be my worst CR so I'm going to let that card sit for another year or so. I just looked it up, I paid off AmEx and received the Optima in 2/2009. Hopefully in another year the remaining baddies will age off (EX has 4 bads on it, 20+ goods) and I will be able to do the close/reapply with a little more confidence than if I were to do it today.
Didn't think about the 'double' affect of closing the optima and opening a new account - 2 old trades! I guess that's just a fringe benefit for suffering thru oasis.
@Anonymous wrote:
Didn't think about the 'double' affect of closing the optima and opening a new account - 2 old trades! I guess that's just a fringe benefit for suffering thru oasis.
LOL, true. Something to look forward to!
Wow! Right after the Green card approval, I applied for the Blue Cash yesterday. I totally expected to be denied. Got an Approval email a few minutes ago. So 3 10 year old tradelines....my scores and report content was the same WITH the optima when I was denied before.
Good advice by TStein..if your credit is decent, drop the recovery product before apping, if you have good credit, go for the Green or Blue..
Yes. This great advice. I have one more question for clarity. For those of you who have applied for more than one card post Oasis, do all of the tradelines retain the old history or just the first card?
@BBYGRL wrote:Yes. This great advice. I have one more question for clarity. For those of you who have applied for more than one card post Oasis, do all of the tradelines retain the old history or just the first card?
All of them do. Any card you get from AMEX can be backdated to the "Member since" date of your very first card. So, the Oasis\Optima card would have your original date as would any additional card(s).
If you ever receive a card from AMEX that isn't linked to your oiginal date, you simply call and they can resolve that over the phone.
OK, the benefits are definetly worth it! Thanks
Don't know if this question has been answered but...
What if my account was closed and paid off? Would I be eligible for an AMEX Oasis Optima card? It would be nice to raise my AAoA.